Where is the best place/company to get engagement ring insurance?

Question

If it helps... I want to ensure a wedding band and engagement ring and the cost of the two were combined to be $8077.00. I assume that I have to get an appraisal and if so what is the quickest way to do this? Is there anything I can do online? I would like to do as much as I can online. I have an apartment and don't want to add it to my renter's policy. I want a seperate policy. Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

Either add it to your renter's policy OR add it to your homeowners. But since you have stated you do not have a renters policy I would suggest getting one! 20K of renters insurance coverage is about 15 dollars a month. It will cover ALL of your stuff and you can list the rings separately.  

Answer 2

The best place, is your renters insurance company.  You can use the bill of sale, instead of an appraisal, if it's recent.

You cannot buy this type of insurance on line.

I have no idea why you wouldn't want to add it to your renters - that's the cheapest way to get the best coverage.  Any other policy is going to start at $500, and be more limited in coverage. BUT, if you're h**l bent on paying the most money for the least coverage, feel free to talk to any local, independent agent, to fill out the application and get a quote.  Doing it that way, will also take the longest time - up to a week, just to get the quote back.

State Farm is NOT going to write a stand-alone jewelry policy, unless they also write your renters policy.

You cannot go directly to the company, for this type of coverage.  You MUST use an agent.  To find a local, independent agent near you, go to www.iiaa.org

Although most probably won't be interested in doing this - writing a policy for the most money, for the least coverage, usually indicates that 1.  the loss has already occurred or 2.  this is just an excercise for them, as you won't really buy it or 3.  opens them up for a major errors and ommissions lawsuit, as it's the worst way to cover your ring set.

Answer 3

Personal Articles Floaters/Policies can only be written in person because every company requires that the agent actually inspect the piece(s) to be insured, in addition to having an appraisal.  Because the coverage on these policies (covers for almost everything with few exclusions) is so much broader than coverage provided under a regular, un-endorsed Renter's insurance (covers only for specific named perils, or events) insurers want to protect themselves as much as possible from fraud.  For example, if you lose an item insured under a Personal Articles Policy you would have coverage - the same loss would not be covered under your renter's insurance unless you added that Jewelry endorsement.

You'd be well off getting a quote to add it to your Renter's insurance, even if you decide not to go that way.  Different companies do this differently.  Some add a Jewelry endorsement with a specific amount (i.e. $5000) of additional coverage and expand the coverage so that it provides the very broad coverage of a separate policy.  Others do it as a separate policy completely.  Still others offer both.

I'm familiar with State Farm because I was a licensed agent in a State Farm office for many years.  We offered both options.  In your case because it is an expensive piece (and State Farm's endorsement limit is $5000) I would have recommended a separate policy.  I always wrote these with no deductible - another thing making it a favorable option (unlike Renter's or Homeowners policies which had deductibles of $500, $1000 or more).

And contrary to what the lovely and correct 99.9% of the time mbrkatz says, State Farm WILL write stand-alone Personal Articles policies without writing the Renter's in some cases.  I've done it several times when the client was referred to me.  They go through a little extra underwriting, and it's at the discretion of the agent and the underwriter, but it is possible.  We often wound up getting additional lines of insurance later...

At any rate the State Farm policy is an excellent policy.  And you can add things other than jewelry - I have my cameras and lenses, my Wedgwood china, some  artwork and several other things on my policy because I wanted the broader coverage.  If I drop a box of my Wedgwood china it will be covered - unlike under a Homeowners or Renter's policy.

Edited to add:  The rate will vary depending on where you live, but when I retired $10,000 worth of coverage cost about $200 a year...

Edited  again because you added that you don't have Renter's insurance - Well, that was an odd way to word your question if you don't  have it!  You may want to get a quote for both Renters and the Personal Articles.  You may be surprised at how reasonable the premium is, and you'd get coverage for your stuff, and  liability.  Not a bad idea!

Good  luck!

Edited what I hope is the final time to add that you can get an appraisal at nearly any jeweler, but I'd get a referral from the insurance agent so you know it's someone creditable.  They typically charge $25 per item, at least around here.   I'm assuming you need it because the place you purchased it didn't provide one.  You may want to ask them first, as most places give them free when you buy the item from them!

Answer 4

statefarm

Answer 5

You should get a personal articles policy for the ring separately.   A renters insurance policy has a limit on jewelry that is not enough to cover the ring.  The maximum limit is usually $2,500/$5,000.

So, take a personal articles for the ring.  Take a high deductible and  that will save you some money.  

State Farm is a good place for this because they pay their claims. They also do a lot of this kind of business.  Call them for a quote.